Fashion 鈥� not disability 鈥� defines this young entrepreneur鈥檚 future
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Patrik Jonsson Staff writer
| Darien, Ga.
Will Howell doesn鈥檛 wear a tie every day, but he loves nothing so much as getting dressed to the nines for church or a wedding or, really, for any occasion at all.
He is the epitome of a Southern gentleman, shaking hands with all comers, hugging them, cheek-pecking, and generally charming the pants off them, sharply dressed in threads by Nautica and Brooks Brothers and sporting a jaunty bowtie.
Mr. Howell, who is 20, has cerebral palsy. But his megawatt smile hints at unique talents and abilities that he has put to profitable use. In the face of daunting odds, but fueled by his keen fashion sense, the young Georgian and his father launched WillPower Ties this fall, selling Mr. Howell鈥檚 favorite neckwear.
Why We Wrote This
Can stigma have a silver lining? Exclusion can compel us to design our own doors when other doors close. Consider Americans with disabilities like Will Howell, who find not just income, but independence, in self-employment.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been really cool,鈥� he says, pointing to recent orders from states as distant as California and Texas for ties in styles such as 鈥淩ock the Vote鈥� (decorated with elephants, donkeys, and 鈥淰ote鈥� buttons) and 鈥淐hick Magnet鈥� (that one features fluffy chicks, magnets, and bolts of lightning).
Just before Christmas, Mr. Howell is wearing the multiple hats of an internet shopkeeper at his family鈥檚 modest home in this historic fishing village off Doboy Sound: founder, model, PR guy, packing clerk, and, finally, delivery man, hauling packages over to the post office on a custom trike.
Mr. Howell is part of a nascent but notable rise in the ranks of young entrepreneurs with disabilities, says Cary Griffin, a leading expert on self-employment for people with disabilities. As they lend their names, faces, ideas, and designs to businesses selling everything from popcorn to socks, these entrepreneurs are launching companies that serve to unleash their human potential, disdaining pity in favor of profit.
A new purpose
鈥淪ince he was an infant, Will has been significantly limited in his physical abilities, but he has more than made up for that in his level of enthusiasm and happiness and desire to be part of this world,鈥� says Dr. Ben Spitalnick, Mr. Howell鈥檚 pediatrician.
Those qualities likely would not have been enough to secure him a job. Barely a third of the 24 million Americans diagnosed with severe mental and physical disabilities part time.聽聽
鈥淧eople like him stay in school until they鈥檙e 20 or 21, and then they age out and they don鈥檛 know what to do. And for all the development and job skills resources that are out there, [agencies] can鈥檛 create jobs,鈥� Dr. Spitalnick says.
But Mr. Howell鈥檚 attributes are well-suited to doing his own thing in his own business.
鈥淭his family created a job, a company,鈥� Dr. Spitalnick says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 given them a new direction and it鈥檚 given Will a new purpose.鈥�
The inspiration for WillPower Ties is John鈥檚 Crazy Socks 鈥� founded by John Cronin, who has Down syndrome, and his father, Mark 鈥� which offers 鈥渟ocks, socks and more socks鈥� on the web. Its success launched the pair on a speaking tour, which recently took them to Savannah, Georgia, near Mr. Howell鈥檚 home.
Hearing about the talk, 鈥渨e immediately started thinking, 鈥榳hat could Will do?鈥欌�� says Melanie Howell, his mother. 鈥淲e landed on his love of ties.鈥� Her husband, Carey, sold his convenience store to go into business with his son.
Decades of advocacy have done little to dent disabled unemployment rates in the United States. People with disabilities face barriers ranging from transport difficulties to government-imposed income ceilings if they receive Medicaid or supplemental Social Security benefits. Poverty and low self-esteem are common, according to the Institute on Disability.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a reason why people with disabilities have such a hard time finding a job,鈥� says Megan Henly, project director for the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire, in Durham. 鈥淪omeone like [Mr. Howell] might have a good day or a bad day. It鈥檚 hard to find transportation.
鈥淪elf-employment seems like a way around that,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd the internet has created this ability to interact with the public that didn鈥檛 exist even 10 years ago.鈥�
In 2011, a higher share of workers with disabilities聽 than those without disabilities 鈥� 11.8% versus 6.6% 鈥� piggybacking on decades of pioneering work promoting self-employment among the former group.聽
Many of them also benefit from a Department of Labor program called Employment First, which stresses that 鈥測ou have to adapt the environment to fit the person, not the other way around,鈥� says Mr. Griffin, the co-author of 鈥淢aking Self-Employment Work for People with Disabilities.鈥澛�
鈥淭here are unlimited ways to make a living in the world, but we tend to think of just a few things for people with intellectual disabilities: Clean the dishes at the humane society, work at the food co-op, work at McDonald鈥檚 鈥� and then we鈥檙e out of ideas,鈥� says Mr. Griffin.
It takes imagination to go beyond that, he says. 鈥淪ometimes we have to reframe鈥� the challenge, Mr. Griffin says. If someone is fixated on railroad trains, for example, 鈥渓et鈥檚 not try to get you to like trains less, which is what tends to happen.鈥� Instead, think how that trait might be put to use. 鈥淟et鈥檚 move toward transportation,鈥� he suggests.
鈥淏ehavior is the No. 1 thing to keep you out of the workforce,鈥� he says. So why not ask, 鈥淲here does this behavior make sense?鈥�
鈥淭errifying, Mom?鈥�
The trend is gathering momentum at a time when people with disabilities are receiving more sympathetic treatment in popular culture.
The power of the media to shape attitudes is critical to encouraging a fresh approach to employment, says Susan Dooha, executive director of the Center for Independence of the Disabled in New York.
鈥淧eople with disabilities are perfectly employable, and the reason they are not employed is stigma,鈥� says Ms. Dooha, who herself has a disability. It鈥檚 鈥渋mportant to see us as contributors, and not needing to be inspirational and having to live up to an impossible stereotype, but also not being seen as a pitiable object of charity,鈥� she adds.
Ms. Howell, a fifth grade teacher, says she long dreaded the moment her son faced adulthood.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been terrifying,鈥� she says.
Although he tends to defer to his parents during conversations, Mr. Howell interrupts: 鈥淭errifying, Mom?鈥�
鈥淵es, it鈥檚 terrifying because I couldn鈥檛 be sure what would happen to you,鈥� she says.
Ms. Howell chafed at the comfort that her late father-in-law, Archie Howell, tried to offer her. 鈥淵ou know, Will is going to find his way,鈥� he would say.
鈥淭hat used to make me mad,鈥� Ms. Howell recalls. 鈥淏ut to see it now coming true has been divine.鈥�
It was Ms. Howell who pushed to open the store by Nov. 1, which at times seemed impossible. Nov. 1 was 鈥淧apa Howell鈥檚 birthday,鈥� explains her husband. 鈥淧apa Howell,鈥� Will chimes.聽
WillPower Ties is donating 5% of profits to AMBUCS, which provides free custom bikes to Americans with physical limitations. The ties are flying out the door, and the company has just launched its own custom brand with a tie that the young entrepreneur designed to draw attention to cerebral palsy.
鈥淭hey are hitting it like rock stars,鈥� says Dr. Spitalnick. 鈥淲ill is enjoying it, it has brought his family together, and they鈥檝e succeeded in not just a successful business launch but a successful launch of the next phase of Will鈥檚 life.鈥�
